Authors: Christopher George
“You were going to stab me,” I pressed, feeling little sympathy. “You followed me into this alley with the express purpose of stabbing me.”
“No! I just wanted your money! You have to believe me! I wouldn’t have stabbed you!” he pleaded, his panic finally giving him the power of speech beyond a hushed squeak.
“I have trouble believing that.” My eyes were cold.
“It’s the truth, I swear!” he wailed. “I just wanted your wallet and phone! That’s all!”
“Okay,” I shrugged, “let’s say I believe you, what do you think I should do with you now?”
He didn’t answer, just looked at me with pleading eyes. Fear was literally pouring off him now and tears were freely running down his face.
“Drop your phone and wallet on the ground,” I ordered harshly.
He looked up at me hopefully and began to rummage through his coat pockets. To my amazement two wallets and three phones dropped to the ground.
“I have trouble believing that all those phones are yours,” I stated dryly.
He croaked again as I slid the knife slowly up his throat – forcing him to raise his head. Then I placed the tip of the blade just at the joint between his jaw and his neck.
“They’re not mine,” he whimpered pathetically. “Please don’t kill me.”
“I don’t know if I can afford that luxury,” I whispered, just softly enough so that he could hear me. “After all, you’ve seen my face.”
“I saw nothing!” he promised. “It’s dark here! There’s no way I’d recognise you again!”
“If you tell anyone what happened tonight, I will find you and make you wish that I hadn’t. Do you understand?”
He squeaked another affirmative.
“Just let me go, man,” he pleaded, trying to simultaneously talk but not move his jaw at all.
“I’m still not sure I should, and I’m sure at least three other people would agree with me,” I continued, gesturing to the pile of phones and wallets at his feet.
“If I get out of this alive, I’ll never mug another person again in my life,” he swore. “I promise.”
In truth I really didn’t want to hurt him. But I also really didn’t want him to blab about what had happened here to anyone.
He shook his head very gently from side to side, which was actually kind of impressive considering he really couldn’t move his neck that much.
“You will never speak of this and you’ll never mug anyone again?” I asked, as if I was trying to make up my mind.
“I swear,” he whispered far too quickly.
“You have to mean it,” I hissed as the stress of the situation finally got to me. I wanted this over and I wanted it over now.
“I swear! Just let me go!” he repeated, louder this time.
I let the knife fall to the ground and took several steps back, allowing him a clear path to exit the alley.
“Then, go,” I ordered. I kept my eyes on him in case he tried anything stupid.
I had a mana thread raised and ready to smack him back into the wall should he attempt anything. I didn’t particularly want to use it though as if I did hit him, he’d probably not survive an attack at this range.
To his credit he didn’t even look at me. He simply ran as fast as he could down the alley. I left the knife on the ground but recovered the wallets and phones. I’d deposit them at a police station, claiming I’d found them in the trash.
I took a few seconds to calm down before I attempted my next move. I grinned to myself with some degree of dark amusement. If my assailant was watching the alley waiting for me to come out then he’d be disappointed as I did not intend to leave the alley that way. I didn’t think it was likely he was waiting. It was more than likely that he was still running.
I could have had quite a career in law enforcement with these powers. In fact I wondered if this was how superhero crime fighters in comic books felt when they first began their careers. I shook my head sadly as I realised that this wasn’t a comic book and I was most definitely not a superhero.
I had no inclination to ever place myself in a situation like that ever again and I’d question the sanity of anyone who would knowingly seek out such situations. I was no hero – I saw no reason to risk my life for others too stupid to avoid situations like this.
I latched a mana thread onto the roof of the building in front of me and launched myself into the air. I quickly gained momentum and latched myself onto the roof. I was amazed at how easy it had become. I pulled myself on to the roof and turned back to see if anyone had noticed my ascent.
Confident that I hadn’t been spotted I took a moment to look around. From my vantage point I could see the street below and watched as people walked past, unaware of the fact that they were being observed. In actual fact I could see most of the block.
There were several larger buildings further down the street that would allow me an even better view. It took several more jumps before I was in what I’d considered to be an ideal position. I was perched on top of Flinders Street Station.
The view was amazing.
I could see far along the river line and down across the casino and waterfront areas. The view facing towards the city was a little more restricted. If it weren’t for the buildings directly in front of me I’d have had an unobstructed view of pretty much the whole city. Fortunately direct line of sight wasn’t required by the awareness spell. The point of the spell was to be able to see through walls in the first place.
Yes, this spot was perfect.
I took a few seconds to ready myself. This was going to be very interesting. The largest awareness detonation I’d accomplished so far was only about fifty metres. I’d had thought that large enough at the time. This time, however, I wanted to make it as large as possible to increase the chances of catching Renee within its reach.
This was going to dwarf anything I’d attempted before.
I breathed in as I built the mana within me. The feeling of mana intoxication washed over me and pulsed from my chest and down into my arms. I built the mana into a small but potent ball of power in front of me. I filled the sphere with more energy. I watched with satisfaction as it grew in size. I noted with pride that I was having no trouble with the stability of the sphere as I enlarged it. It was already twice the size of what I’d previously thought was possible. This isn’t to say that it wasn’t causing me some strain. Keeping the mana flowing from my body in such a fashion was taking a heavy toll. I was sweating profusely and my breath came in gasps as I struggled to maintain the vortex of power before me.
The best way to describe the strain I was under would be to compare the process to attempting to blow up a balloon underwater. It’s a delicate balancing act between power – your breath, and the external force – the water.
I’d reached the apex of what I considered to be my limits when I released the mana. The shockwave of the blast sent me reeling backwards. I hadn’t expected such force from the charge. I watched the mana charge as it absorbed the street below and then the next street. It didn’t look like it was slowing down much as it made its way through the Melbourne streets. The wave passed over the street and people going about their night’s activities. As the wave passed over each person they began to glow with an unearthly blue light.
It was fortunate that only my kind could see the light created by the mana or I would have created chaos on the streets. I watched with increasing curiosity and amazement as I could now see several people far below the street level. I guessed that they were standing on a train platform in one of the city loop subway train stations. Several couples were obviously in conversation as they took the escalator down to the platform. I noticed with amusement that a discreet couple were making out in what I assumed to be a broom closet.
The mana charge still showed no sign of slowing and I watched with flabbergasted disbelief as the charge quickly consumed several more street blocks. If anything it appeared to be gaining in momentum.
In a few more city blocks it would have consumed the entire CBD. I was giddy with elation as I watched the mana charge expand, my eyes searching out for the tell-tale sign of a mana user within the charge. I had found no-one yet. I waited for a few more seconds as the mana charge did indeed consume the entire Central Business District and felt the first tremors of doubt. I couldn’t see her. Renee wasn’t in the city. This made the whole exercise a little more than an elegant and excessive waste of time. I watched with amusement as it impacted the sides of the apartment buildings and allowed me a voyeuristic glimpse of people in their homes. I could see them sleeping in their beds, watching their TVs and going about their everyday lives.
The wave passed across the CBD in seconds and out into the inner suburbs I watched as streets, buildings and then whole city blocks were made visible by the detonation. Everywhere I looked I could see the pulsating signatures of people going about their everyday lives, they looked normal – there was nothing that would have led me to believe that they were anything special. I was just about to give up as the mana wave reached halfway into Carlton. Renee was not in the CBD. The mana charge was impressive though – it had consumed the entire CBD area and was now taking a large chunk out of the surrounding suburbs too.
Then I saw a brightly glowing blip on the third or fourth floor. It must be Renee! I’d found her. She stood out like a beacon to my senses shining with all the radiance of mana assisted brilliance. She just wasn’t where I had expected to find her. The immediate way the figure leapt to its feet convinced me that it could see the mana charge that had just barrelled through its walls and into its home. I could see how this would be distressing if you didn’t know it was coming or knew what it was.
The figure within the building appeared to be doing something odd with mana as they moved to sit into a bowed position on what I’d assume was a chair or bed. I could see the mana react as the figure drew upon the mana. This had the effect of making themselves even more spectacular in my mana enhanced vision.
Without any warning I saw a thread of mana arc out from the figure and move with great speed out across the sky obviously following a search pattern. It immediately became obvious that they were looking for the perpetrator of the mana. It took only a few seconds for the thread to locate me, as it simply needed to zone in on the centre of the mana charge.
I examined the thread once it got close enough. It didn’t look like a standard mana thread as I understood them. It didn’t appear to have any strength or solidity to it at all. The thread obviously couldn’t be used to lift or move anything. If it wasn’t for the awareness blast I probably would have had trouble even seeing it.
It had a strange element to it that caused the hairs on the back of my hair to stand up. I was pondering the nature of this thread when a frightening idea dawned upon me. What if this wasn’t Renee?
What if I’d stumbled onto another of our kind? How would they react to an invasion of their privacy? This might be an attack! I might already be in the target sights of some mage staring down the mana equivalent of a bazooka rocket. I was just about to flee when the mana thread changed form yet again, solidifying a few metres away from me. I raised my hands and drew the mana into the arms readying for an attack.
I noticed with panic that very little answered my call. There were only a few dozen mana particles that had worked their way down to my hands. I’d obviously used most of what I could muster in my awareness spell.
A loud clapping noise filled the air without warning, as the mana thread simply disappeared and in its place stood a very bemused looking Renee.
“You certainly got my attention,” she said.
“I got your address too!” I grinned back, unable to help myself. I was giddy at the expenditure of so much mana and relieved that this wasn’t some form of attack.
“That you did. You got the whole damned city.” She rolled her eyes.
I couldn’t help but grin back at her again.
“There’s going to be some really intense paranoia tonight,” she snickered, shaking her head with mirth.
“What do you mean?”
“You know that feeling where people say that they feel like someone’s standing on their grave?” Renee explained. “Or that feeling you get when you know you’re being looked at?”
“Yeah,” I answered, not really getting her point.
She simply gestured around us to the glowing people going about their business.
“Not everyone, of course,” Renee amended, “but those with sufficient sensitivity can feel it when mana passes through them. You’ve probably just freaked out a whole bunch of people.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the concept.
“Did I earn your phone number yet? Or should I just send flowers to your flat?” I joked.
“You’re just lucky that there are no others of our kind in the city. No-one could have missed a display like this,” Renee continued, ignoring my question.
“Yeah,” I commented ruefully. “That thought occurred to me too – but only after I’d already sent off the charge. Whatever you did to get here so quickly scared the life out of me.”
“Well then, mister, we’re even. That mana charge must have taken three years off my life when it came bursting through my kitchen wall.” Renee snickered.
“Most people call.” I nodded, chuckling, “I prefer the more personal touch of a mana charge.”
“Personal?” Renee asked with a raised eyebrow. “You probably just touched over several thousand people you letch!”
“Yeah, but I was thinking of you!” I grinned, playing along.
“Still, I suppose I never said we couldn’t see other people,” Renee concluded jokingly.
“We can see all the other people,” I said, gesturing the panorama left in the wake of the mana charge.
I knew from experience that the effect caused by the awareness blast would last a few minutes at least; however, given the strength of the charge I’d used I wasn’t able to predict when exactly the charge would end. I took Renee’s hand and held it. She allowed it for a moment and then took it away.